rookie, foot pain for 3 months

Trynn

Barefooters
Jun 15, 2015
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Hello,

I started running with Vibram 5 finger shoes in May of 2014. I was just starting out, so doing a combo of running/walking. I was running both outside on a road, and inside on a rubberized track. I got up to running just over 2 miles at a time, 4 - 5 times per week. I was having no problems whatsoever. Then in Jan of 2015 I started running on a treadmill. To make matters worse, someone made a comment about the loud sound of my shoes hitting the treadmill, and I changed my stride to try to make it quieter. Mid-march, I did 2.3 miles on the treadmill running at a medium pace, with a 60 second sprint in there. My feet hurt. I thought I'd work it out, so did the same thing the next day. They were worse. The third day, worse yet. After the 4th day I finally realized I was in trouble and so stopped running.

The pain was in my arches. After doing some reading, I thought maybe it was plantar fasciitis, but my heels never hurt. I was really bad about stretching out ever. I saw a neurological chiropractor for 5 visits who worked on my feet. He did muscle testing on my with my shoes and said they weren't the problem. He adjusted my feet, did the grafton technique on them (deeply scraping the sole with a metal tool to break up scar tissues or something like that, was very, very painful). He said he thought my arches had fallen. He had me rolling my foot on a golf ball, and also rolling on a foam roller while gripping it with my feet, which would really hurt, and hurt a lot the next day.

Anyways, after 3 months of not running, my feet never got completely better. I just started running again this past week. I've just run a mile once, after a few days a 1/2 mile. What hurts now is mid-arch and up the inside of my feet to my ankles. Even bumping the inside of one foot against the other hurts. I'm not sure if I should keep going with the running or give it more time. I don't have good insurance, just basically hospitalization, don't trust MDs in general, am not sure my neuro chiro really knows what he is doing with regard to my feet, and am kinda out of money to spend on my feet. I don't want want to let the ability I built up dwindle by going any longer without running but also don't want to make things worse. I am the type that has no problem pushing past the pain, and that is usually my first inclination, but again, I don't want to make it worse.

Any advice from the more experienced (surely everyone else on this forum) would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Trynn
 
Well, I ran today for just over a half a mile. A few hours later my foot felt funny, I looked down and it's completely swollen. It doesn't hurt at all, which I think is probably a bad sign :(
 
not running sucks. not knowing the problem is even worse. no easy solution on this. if it hurt you might think stress fracture. could be your muscles are still weak and inhibited. flexor hallicus longus/tibialis posterior and possibly flexor digitorum longus. those are all your calve muscles and likely your little foot muscles as well.

check out youtube videos from Evidence based fitness and the Gait Guys. these can help you out. check out short foot exercises to start. good luck.
 
If your foot is completely swollen, you probably need to see a real doctor. I'd ask for an X-ray or something that will diagnose a fracture. In the absence of broken bones, then consider an MRI to look for something else.

I've had all sorts of things show up as pain during my transition which eventually sort themselves out, but it sounds like you've got a little more going on. Good luck!

And although you don't trust M.D.'s, I'd probably trust chiropractors even less. You pay a doctor for their extremely specific and targeted experience built over years, which may or may not be the kind of experience you necessarily want or need (and for bare footers we're probably better off seeing witch doctors), but it is what it is.
 
For swollen feet. 0.5-1kg sea salt (about 1-2 lb) in a bowl of water. Soak your feet for 30-60 minutes. Twice a day. Like this for at least a week.

Also kills yeast/candida (warts, etc.) and such organisms and related foot issues.

Had once, about 5 years ago, a bad case of swelling between two small bones in my right (or left? don't remember) foot. It got so bad I could barely walk, was very painful. Two weeks of soaking my feet in warm heavily salted water solved the issue, the other foot had a wart or something such, that thing went away also.
 
after 3 months of not running a fracture would have healed. so too would any muscle strains/tears and ligament sprains. chiros are taught to screen for fractures but nothing is perfect, not even xrays. finding someone who specializes in feet or whole body movement is even better.

find an R2P( return to play/rehab to performance) provider in your area. that would be the next best thing for you to do. i understand about the money but either you pay for something up front or on the back end.
 
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another thought just occurred to me. what if we're over thinking it? what if your shoes are too tight? it's very possible. then again when i started running bf my feet would and still will swell with mileage and temperature changes.
 
Thanks so much for all the replies. It was Sunday my foot swelled up, and every morning since it is a little better, but by the end of the day completely swelled up again, not running at all. So 6 days of chronic swelling, like when I was pregnant (but I'm not). Nothing wrong with the fit of the shoes, I had been running for 10 months in them just fine. I have noticed that my calves feel tight, I think it is a whole muscle thing going on, a big picture. This swelling is scaring me though.

I almost feel like I could've fractured it when I was rolling on a foam roller, gripping it with my feet. They hurt so bad the next day after that. But they don't really hurt much now at all, just some burning sometimes in the arches. It wasn't hurting when I was running last week.

I'll look into a r2p I guess.

Thanks everyone.
 
Oh, anyone have experience or thoughts on kinesio tape? I have some, my chiro put it on a few weeks ago, not sure it did anything for me. Was kinda comforting.
 
it's for proprioception only. tells your muscles to move when they should in case they aren't.
 
Hi Trynn, I wonder if you've got a stress fracture going on in there some where. I know you're not a big fan of the doctors but I think in your case it might be worth getting a scan done - especially if it swells up again. I hope you get to the bottom of it soon, it can very frustrating not knowing what the problem is.